Fences Page #10

deputy commisioner: Mr. Maxson?

Troy stands.

deputy commisioner: The commissioner will see you now.

Close up on Troy’s face.

CUT TO:

BLACK SCREEN:

In the black we hear Troy and Bono.

bono (v.o.):
He told him the same thing he told you.

Take it to the union.

troy (v.o.):
(excited)

Brownie ain’t got that much sense. Man wasn’t

thinking about nothing. He wait until I confront

them on it . . . then he wanna come crying se(excited)

Brownie ain’t got that much sense. Man wasn’t

thinking about nothing. He wait until I confront

them on it . . . then he wanna come crying seniority.

(calls out)

ROSE! HEY ROSE!

EXT. FRONT OF TROY’S AND ROSE’S HOUSE—

AFTERNOON:

Troy peacocking, Bono walks beside

him. Across the street, a couple of

people look out of their windows.

bono:
I wish I could have seen Mr. Rand’s face when

he told you.

troy:
He couldn’t get it out of his mouth! Liked to

bit his tongue! When they called me down there to

the commissioner’s office . . . he thought they

was gonna fire me. Like everybody else.

bono:
I didn’t think they was gonna fire you. I thought

they was gonna put you on the warning paper.

EXT. SIDE YARD—AFTERNOON

troy:
HEY ROSE!

(to Bono)

Yeah, Mr. Rand like to bit his tongue.

bono:
I see you run right down to Taylors’ and told

that Alberta gal.

I see you run right down to Taylors’ and told

that Alberta gal.

troy (calling):
HEY ROSE!

(to Bono)

I told everybody. HEY ROSE!

(for Bono)

I went down there to cash my check.

EXT. BACK YARD—CONTINUOUS

Rose sticks her head out of the

kitchen window.

rose:
Hush all that hollering, man! I know you out

here. What they say down there at the commissioner’s

office?

troy (with mock pride): You supposed to come when I call

you, woman. Bono’ll tell you that.

(to Bono)

Don’t Lucille come when you call her?

rose:
Man, hush your mouth. I ain’t no dog . . . talk

about . . . “come when you call me.”

Rose pulls her head back in and shuts

the window. Troy, still peacocking,

heads up the steps and makes a show of

opening the back porch door for her.

troy (loud for rose to hear): You hear this, Bono? I had

me an old dog used to get uppity like that. You

say, “C’mere, Blue!” . . . and he just lay there

and look at you.

You hear this, Bono? I had

me an old dog used to get uppity like that. You

say, “C’mere, Blue!” . . . and he just lay there

and look at you.

Rose hurries out onto the back porch.

troy:
End up getting a stick and chasing him away trying

to make him come.

rose:
I ain’t studying you and your dog. I remember

you used to sing that old song.

troy (he sings:
) Hear it ring! Hear it ring!

Had an old dog his name was Blue.

rose:
Don’t nobody want to hear you sing that old

song.

troy (singing):
You know Blue was mighty true.

rose:
Used to have Cory running around here singing

that song.

bono:
Hell, I remember that song myself.

troy (singing):
You know Blue was a good old dog.

Blue treed a possum in a hollow log.

That was my daddy’s song. My daddy made up that

song.

rose:
I don’t care who made it up. Don’t nobody wanna

hear you sing it.

troy (makes a song like calling a dog): Come here, woman.

rose:
You come in here carrying on, I reckon they

ain’t fired you. What they say down there at the

commissioner’s office?

troy (puts his arm around rose): Look here, Rose . . . Mr.

Rand called me into his office today when I got

back from talking to them people down there . . .

it come from up top . . . he called me in and

told me they was making me a driver.

rose:
Troy, you kidding!

troy:
No I ain’t. Ask Bono.

rose:
Well, that’s great, Troy. Now you don’t have to

hassle them people no more.

Lyons comes out from inside.

troy:
Aw hell . . . I wasn’t looking to see you today.

I thought you was in jail. Got it all over the

front page of the Courier about them raiding Seefus’

place . . . where you be hanging out with

all them thugs.

lyons:
Hey, Pop . . . that ain’t got nothing to do

with me. I don’t go down there gambling. I go down

there to sit in with the band. I ain’t got nothing

to do with the gambling part. They got some good

music down there.

troy:
They got some rogues . . . is what they got.

lyons:
How you been, Mr. Bono? Hi, Rose.

bono:
I see where you playing down at the Crawford

Grill tonight.

rose:
How come you ain’t brought Bonnie like I told

you. You should have brought Bonnie with you, she

ain’t been over in a month of Sundays.

How come you ain’t brought Bonnie like I told

you. You should have brought Bonnie with you, she

ain’t been over in a month of Sundays.

lyons:
I was just in the neighborhood . . . thought

I’d stop by.

troy:
Here he come . . .

bono:
Your daddy got a promotion on the rubbish. He’s

gonna be the first colored driver. Ain’t got to do

nothing but sit up there and read the paper like

them white fellows.

Lyons comes down the steps and joins

them.

lyons:
Hey, Pop . . . if you knew how to read you’d be

all right.

bono:
Naw . . . naw . . . you mean if the n*gger knew

how to drive he’d be all right. Been fighting with

them people about driving and ain’t even got a

license. Mr. Rand know you ain’t got no driver’s

license?

troy:
Driving ain’t nothing. All you do is point the

truck where you want it to go. Driving ain’t

nothing.

bono:
Do they know you ain’t got no driver’s license?

That’s what I’m talking about. I ain’t asked if

driving was easy. I asked if Mr. Rand know you

ain’t got no driver’s license.

troy:
He ain’t got to know. The man ain’t got to know

my business. Time he find out, I have two or three

driver’s licenses.

lyons (going into his pocket): Say, look here, Pop . . .

troy:
I knew it was coming. Didn’t I tell you, Bono?

I know what kind of “look here, Pop” that was. The

n*gger fixing to ask me for some money. It’s Friday

night. It’s my payday. All them rogues down

there on the avenue . . . the ones that ain’t in

jail . . . and Lyons is hopping in his shoes to

get down there with them.

Lyons takes out a ten dollar bill and

holds it out to Troy.

lyons:
See, Pop . . . if you’d give somebody else a

chance to talk sometime—you’d see that I was fixing

to pay you back your ten dollars like I told

you. Here . . . I told you I’d pay you when Bonnie

got paid.

troy:
Naw . . . you go ahead and keep that ten dollars.

Put it in the bank. The next time you feel

like you wanna come by here and ask me for something

. . . you go on down there and get that.

lyons:
Here’s your ten dollars, Pop. I told you I

don’t want you to give me nothing. I just wanted

to borrow ten dollars.

troy:
Naw . . . you go on and keep that for the next

time you want to ask me.

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